Your Guide to Global Specifications

In a major milestone for the future of broadcast technology, the 3GPP RAN4 working group has officially approved the inclusion of Bands 112 and 113 for LTE-based 5G terrestrial broadcast in Release 19 of the global 5G standard.

3GPP sets the comprehensive worldwide standards for the 5G protocol. A band must be explicitly listed in these standards to be formally recognized. On September 29th, 2023, 3GPP officially published the standard for “Band 108,” a receive-only (Broadcast) band operating from 470 MHz to 698 MHz. This encompasses all broadcast UHF channels in the US and most other countries. Band 107 is a subset of Band 108 for use by various countries, with other sub-sets proposed.

The 3GPP's Meeting #106 in Madrid delivered a significant boost for early 5G terrestrial broadcast deployments. New sub-bands within the globally recognized Band 108 have been officially approved. These specifications, based on LTE technology, are specifically designed to facilitate and accelerate the initial rollout of 5G broadcast services. This development marks a key step forward in making efficient direct-to-mobile content delivery a reality.

A key technical advancement for 5G Broadcast was finalized at the 3GPP's Meeting #106 in Madrid with the official approval of Time Frequency Interleaving (TFI). This crucial technology will enhance the robustness and efficiency of 5G Broadcast transmissions, paving the way for more reliable direct-to-mobile content delivery.